Newbridge Networks

Newbridge Networks Corporation

Company type	Public
Industry	Telecommunications equipment
Founded	1986 in Ottawa, Canada
Founder	Sir Terry Matthews
Defunct	2000
Fate	Acquired by Alcatel
Headquarters	Ottawa , Canada
Products	Channelbank devices, network management systems (46020 NMS), routers (ISDN TAP 3500, RS-232C 3600 Mainstreet, ACC "river" routers), ATM products (MainStreet 36150, MainStreet Xpress 36170), ViViD series
Owner	Sir Terry Matthews (founder, largest shareholder post-acquisition)

Newbridge Networks Corporation was established in 1986 in Ottawa by Sir Terry Matthews, a Welsh-Canadian entrepreneur, after his exit from Mitel. Matthews foresaw a more rapid expansion in data networking compared to voice communication and sought to redirect Mitel's focus accordingly; however, he was removed by a cautious board heavily influenced by British Telecom. The company's name pays homage to Matthews' birthplace, Newbridge, located in south Wales.

Rapidly becoming a significant entity in both data and voice networking sectors, Newbridge capitalized on Ottawa's strong background in voice switching and software development. Early on, the company introduced channelbank devices that allowed telecommunications providers to broaden their service range over existing cabling infrastructure. Additionally, it developed sophisticated network management systems such as the 46020 NMS and routers including the ISDN TAP 3500, RS-232C 3600 Mainstreet, and ACC "river" routers (Congo/Amazon/Tigris). These routers employed proprietary software to implement distributed star-topology routing across unused data channels within optical equipment and telecom switches.

Starting in 1992, Newbridge directed its efforts toward Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technologies with products like the MainStreet 36150 and MainStreet Xpress 36170 (which later became the Alcatel 7470), earning substantial market acclaim. The firm's portfolio expanded into dedicated data networking following its acquisition of Ungermann-Bass, incorporating discontinued routing technology from Tandem Computers. This acquisition complemented Newbridge's internally created ViViD series—a network-wide distributed routing architecture combining bridging capabilities with centralized routing servers.

Newbridge also maintained a 30% ownership interest in its affiliate West End Systems Corp., headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, with research and development operations situated in Arnprior.

In February 2000, Alcatel acquired Newbridge for more than $7 billion in stock, resulting in Matthews becoming Alcatel’s largest single shareholder.